New release: Spatial Transcriptomics of Mouse CFA-induced TMJ arthritis
Published 04 March 2026
Spatial transcriptomics of the mouse temporomandibular joint (TMJ) using seqFISH, from the dataset Spatial Transcriptomics of Mouse CFA-induced TMJ arthritis
PI: Jian-Fu Chen (University of Southern California)
Description:
Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA)-induced Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthritis remodels the cartilage, subchondral bone, and synovial tissue with diverse cell changes. The functional importance of the anatomical organization of TMJ cell types and cellular microenvironment in painful arthritis remains largely unknown. Here, we applied seqFISH (sequential Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization) spatial transcriptomicsto examine the adult mouse TMJ. We uncovered new cell types and comprehensively mapped anatomical locations of diverse cell types with distinct neighborhoods, revealed arthritis-induced cell number and cell status changes, and discovered microenvironment remodeling of fibroblast-immune cells, which are confirmed in patient synovial tissues. Functional and mechanistic studies showed that macrophage-specific knockout of mouse Igf1 promotes its immune activation and upregulates Il33 in adjacent synovial fibroblasts, resulting in inflammatory fibroblast expansion. In turn, fibroblast-specific deletion of Il33 alleviates inflammatory macrophages and inflammation, leading to pain mitigation. Thus, spatial transcriptomics maps diverse cell types in TMJ and reveals a remodeling of synovial fibroblast-immune microenvironment via the Igf1-Il33 axis, which drives arthritis pain with therapeutic potentials.
FaceBase Dataset:
Ziying Lin, Supawadee Jariyasakulroj, Yang Shu, Jingyi Chen, Qing Chang, Pao-Fen Ko, Yuyueyang Qiu, Feixiang Chen, David Ahn, Zhen Zhao, Jian-Fu Chen. Spatial Transcriptomics of Mouse CFA-induced TMJ arthritis. FaceBase Consortium https://doi.org/10.25550/8Q-3KAR (2026).
Publication:
Lin Z, Jariyasakulroj S, Shu Y, Chen J, Chang Q, Ko PF, Qiu Y, Chen F, Ahn D, Zhao Z, Chen JF. Spatial Transcriptomics of TMJ Reveals a Remodeling Fibroblast-Immune Microenvironment Driving Arthritis Pain. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2026 Jan 7:e19816. doi: 10.1002/advs.202519816. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41498747.